Maurício Rua

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Maurício Rua
Maurício "Shogun" Rua
BornMaurício Milani Rua
(1981-11-25) November 25, 1981 (age 42)
Curitiba, Brazil
Other namesShogun
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Weight205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)[2]
Division205
Reach76.0 in (193 cm)[3]
StyleMuay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofCuritiba, Brazil
TeamChute Boxe (2002-2008)
Universidade da luta[4]
Rank  black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active2002–present MMA
Mixed martial arts record
Total23
Wins23
By knockout17
By submission3
By decision3
Losses0
By knockout0
By submission0
By decision0
Other information
Notable relativesMurilo Rua, brother, Glaube Feitosa friend and Karate trainer.
Websitehttp://www.mauricioshogun.com.br/
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: May 09, 2010

Maurício Milani Rua (Portuguese pronunciation: [mawˈɾisiu ˈʁuɐ]; born November 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Nicknamed Shogun, Rua was the winner of the PRIDE Fighting Championship's 2005 Middleweight (205 lb) Grand Prix. He received a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Nino Schembri after winning the Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix.

He is currently ranked as the #1 Light Heavyweight fighter in the world, he is ranked as #4 pound for pound best fighter in the world by Yahoo! and is ranked as the #6 pound for pound best fighter in the world by sherdog. He became famous for his wild, aggressive style, and use of stomps and football kicks to downed opponents while fighting in PRIDE.

Early life

Maurício was born in Curitiba, Brazil. His family also lives in Curitiba. His father is a successful businessman that runs his own business. His mother was a track athlete and is currently a marathon runner. The Rua brothers occasionally run 10 km runs with their mother as well.[5] Shogun has an older brother Murilo (born 1980) and a younger brother Marcos "Shaolin" Rua.[5] Both are mixed martial artists training at Universidade da luta, though Marcos does not compete at a professional level. Mauricio's dad is Portuguese and his mom is Italian.

Shogun has stated that he began training in Muay Thai at the age of 15, and began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 17.[6] In contrast, Pride announcer Mauro Ranallo once claimed that Shogun began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) at the age of six and Muay Thai at seven, and achieved a 10–0 Muay Thai record.[7] He was very successful in BJJ championships at the Blue and Purple belt level. Rua followed his older brother's footsteps after Murilo started training at the Chute Boxe Academy. In addition to Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he also currently trains in wrestling and western boxing.[8][9]

Mixed martial arts career

Rua started his professional career at vale tudo events in Brazil, achieving three stoppages due to strikes, including a win over future Chute Boxe teammate Evangelista Santos. In a fast-paced bout, Santos matched Rua on the feet until Rua took Santos to the ground and forced a stoppage due to strikes from mount. Shogun then entered the International Fighting Championship's (IFC) "Global Domination" tournament. Rua won his first bout against Eric Wanderlei due to punches, and in the second bout got the first submission loss of his career against Renato Sobral with a guillotine choke in the third round.

Pride Fighting Championship

File:Susumu05.png
Maurício "Shogun" Rua attacks Hiromitsu Kanehara with a flying stomp. Shogun exhibited noted ability with his kicks and stomps against grounded opponents throughout his career in Pride.

Following his victory in the IFC tournament, Shogun made his way to Japan to enter the Pride Fighting Championship. He made his Pride debut at the inaugural Pride Bushido 1, a side promotion for lighter weight fighters. In his three Bushido appearances, Rua defeated Akira Shoji, Akihiro Gono, and Yasuhito Namekawa all by strikes in the first round. With his success, Rua graduated to his debut in a main Pride event at Pride 29, where he faced former professional wrestler Hiromitsu Kanehara. Rua defeated Kanehara by stomps early in the first round.

Rua's success and similar background led to comparisons with his Chute Boxe teammate and Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva. However, when he entered the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament, he entered as a heavy underdog. For the first round of the tounament at Pride Total Elimination 2005, he faced Quinton Jackson, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over his brother, Murilo at PRIDE 29. Jackson had been the runner-up in the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, but Maurício dominated the favored fighter from beginning to end, breaking Jackson's ribs with knee strikes and ending the fight in dramatic fashion with soccer kicks to the face in the first round. Jackson later stated that Shogun was the best fighter he had ever fought.[10] In the second round at Pride Critical Countdown 2005, Rua faced Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, a member of Chute Boxe's rival academy Brazilian Top Team. Rua defeated Nogueira by unanimous decision. On August 28, 2005, Rua participated in Pride Final Conflict 2005, in which the last two rounds of the tournament were held on the same night. Rua defeated Alistair Overeem by TKO in the first round, while Ricardo Arona defeated Rua's teammate Wanderlei Silva by decision. Rua and Arona faced each other in the final bout of the tournament. At 2:54 in the first round, Rua knocked Arona out with punches to win the bout and become the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner. It wrapped up a year in which he won Fighter of the Year honors from Sherdog.com

In the very next fight after his Grand Prix win, Shogun faced heavyweight wrestler and Pride Grand Prix 2000 winner Mark Coleman at Pride 31. As Coleman executed a takedown, Rua landed awkwardly and dislocated his elbow, forcing a stoppage due to injury. At Pride Final Conflict Absolute he defeated French kickboxer Cyrille Diabate by TKO due to stomps. At Pride 32 he submitted former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman with a kneebar at 2:35 of the first round. In his final Pride appearance at Pride 33, he fought a rematch with Alistair Overeem and knocked the Dutchman out at 3:37 of the first round.

By the end of his run at Pride, Rua was ranked as the top light heavyweight in the world by Nokaut,[11] Sherdog,[12] and MMAWeekly.com.[13]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After the UFC bought out Pride, Shogun signed on with the UFC and made his highly anticipated debut in the organization at UFC 76. The fight was Rua's first fight under the Unified Rules of MMA, which allow elbows but prohibit kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent. Facing The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin, Rua was widely regarded as the top light heavyweight fighter in the world and considered a heavy favorite to win.[14] However, Rua had difficulty with the larger Griffin and became exhausted in the second round of the fight. After losing both of the previous rounds, Rua ultimately succumbed to a rear naked choke in the final seconds of the third round. Most blame his poor cardiovascular fitness on the fact that Rua suffered a knee injury during training for the fight. He re-injured the knee during the fight and had elective surgery afterwards.[15]

At the UFC 100 Fan Expo event in Las Vegas

Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in his hometown, Curitiba, Brazil.[16]

Rua's surgery forced him to drop out of UFC 85. Instead, he was granted a rematch with Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Shogun defeated Coleman by TKO with 24 seconds left in the third round. The fight earned co-Fight of the Night honors and a $40,000 bonus. In spite of the award, Rua drew criticism for his lackluster performance against Coleman, who was 44 years old and had not competed in over two years.[17][18] Rua's next fight took place at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada against former longtime UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. Shogun came into the fight in better shape than his last two outings, and knocked out Liddell in the first round with a devastating left hook followed by hammer fists. With this victory, Rua returned to the top-ten rankings for the light heavyweight division, and put him next in line for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Fighting For The UFC Light Heavyweight Title

At UFC 104 Shogun lost a unanimous decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. All three judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Machida. However, controversy arose with the decision as many notable MMA personalities felt that Shogun had won the fight. UFC President Dana White stated that he believed Shogun had outscored Machida in the 1st, 4th, and 5th round, thus winning the bout. Following the bout's end, White delivered a check to Rua for the full $250,000 he would have received if he had won the decision.[19]

When asked at the post-fight interviews, many notable MMA fighters felt that Rua had won the fight, including Quinton Jackson,[20] Thiago Silva,[21] Jon Jones,[22] Wanderlei Silva,[23][24] Vitor Belfort,[24] Antonio Silva,[24] Kenny Florian and Rashad Evans. Despite the great majority seeing Rua as the victor, Lyoto's teammate Anderson Silva and former Strikeforce Lightweight champion Josh Thomson stated that they felt Machida had won. Fightmetric analysis of the fight suggested that Rua had landed more blows to the legs than Machida.[25] According to CompuStrike, Shogun landed almost twice as many strikes as Machida did.[26]

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Due to the controversy surrounding the decision, a rematch was immediately announced, which took place at UFC 113 on May 8, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In one of the most anticipated rematches in history, Rua won via knockout at 3:35 of round 1, after dropping Machida with a right and following up with punches on the ground, and was awarded the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Rua has stated that he would fight Anderson Silva if the fight was offered to him.[27] UFC President Dana White has officially confirmed that Rua's first title defense will be against Rashad Evans, who recently won a unanimous decision over Quinton Jackson It has been reported that he is likely to return on March 19, 2011, where he was expected to face Evans. [28]

However, following Jon Jones' victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 126, it was announced that Evans had blown his knee out in training, later it was revealed that it was just a case of a sprain, however he would not be able to face Rua. Rua later revealed that Quinton was offered the title fight but declined, which Quinton confirmed, explaining the reasons he declined was due to the short notice; 6 weeks, and because he incredibly was out of shape.[29]

Jones was then told at UFC 126 in his post-fight interview, following his one-sided win of Ryan Bader that the UFC wanted him to replace Evans against Rua for the Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones accepted, and the fight is still expected to take place at UFC 128.[30]

Personal life

Before he was a fighter, "Shogun" worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands. Rua stated that he liked the experience, but he stopped because "[he]'s a fighter."[31] On September 12, 2007, Rua married physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro.[32] The couple had their first child, a daughter named Maria Eduarda, on January 15, 2010.[33]

Due to his close relationship with both Wanderlei Silva and his brother, Rua has stated that those are the only two people that he would never fight.[34]

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

PRIDE Fighting Championships
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Fighters Only World MMA Awards
Sherdog
  • Other
Status Date Championship Weight Location
Winner 2005 PRIDE Grand Prix Tournament Middleweight Japan Saitama, Japan
Champion 2010 UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Light Heavyweight Canada Montreal, Canada

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Status Date Championship Weight Location
Winner N/A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu South American Championship[6] 80 kg Brazil Brazil
5th N/A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mundial Championship (blue belt level)[6] 80 kg Brazil Brazil

Muay Thai

Status Date Championship Weight Location
Winner 2003 STORM Muay Thai[35] Middleweight Brazil Brazil

fuze is mexican

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maurício "Shogun" Rua Pride Profile". Pride FC. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  2. ^ "Maurício "Shogun" Rua UFC Profile". UFC. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  3. ^ UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson (Television Production). Dublin, Ireland: Zuffa, LLC. January 17, 2009.
  4. ^ (2008-present) "The downfall of BTT and Chute Boxe". ESPN.com. 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ^ a b "NINJA AND SHOGUN INTERVIEW". PrideFC. December 1, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c "MAURÍCIO RUA INTERVIEW". PrideFC. December 27, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  7. ^ Commentator Mauro Ranallo, at 0:15 of round 1 of Maurício Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara, PRIDE 29. "Shogun started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of six, Muay Thai at seven. Was 10 and 0 in Muay Thai."
  8. ^ "Maurício Shogun e Murilo Ninja butt". Portal do VT. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. I have been training a lot of Muay Thai, a lot of Jiu Jitsu, a lot of Wrestling [dead link]
  9. ^ "Ninja e Shogun at Chute Boxe". Dailymotion. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  10. ^ "Mixed martial arts notebook Well-traveled UFC president has big plans for the sport". OregonLive.com. June 22, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. Add UFC news: White recently signed Maurício 'Shogun' Rua, who [sic] current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson called the best fighter he'd ever faced. Rua (16-2) will make his UFC debut Sept. 22
  11. ^ "Nokaut's TOP 10 Fighter Rankings". Nokaut. August 18, 2007.
  12. ^ "Sherdog's Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings". MMAWeekly. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  13. ^ "LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION Top 10 Ranking". MMAWeekly. August 8, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  14. ^ "Shogun to Face Griffin, Not Machida". Nokaut.com. July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
  15. ^ "Shogun goes under the knife". mmafrenzy. September 26, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  16. ^ "Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Looking Forward To New Camp". MMAFightLine. January 28, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  17. ^ "Rua rewarded despite atrocious performance".
  18. ^ "WEC, Condit continue together". USATODAY.com. April 27, 2008. Retrieved 08-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ http://www.esquire.com/features/people-who-matter-2010/dana-white-ufc-0210-3
  20. ^ "'Rampage' Backs 'Shogun,' Blames UFC".
  21. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/videos/recent/Silva-Expect-a-Show-at-UFC-108-2132
  22. ^ "12 Questions for Jon Jones".
  23. ^ Greg Savage. "Wanderlei Silva on Bisping, Nerves, Mending Ties with Anderson".
  24. ^ a b c Marcelo Alonso. "Brazilian Pros Discuss Machida-Shogun".
  25. ^ http://www.fightmetric.com/fights/Machida-Shogun.html
  26. ^ Jack Encarnacao. "The Weekly Wrap: Oct. 24 - Oct. 30".
  27. ^ Dave Deibert. "UFC 113: Shogun Rua hands Lyoto Machida his first loss with huge KO, wins title".
  28. ^ "Shogun vs. Evans moved to UFC 129 in Newark". mixedmartialarts.com. December 14, 2010.
  29. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/22381/after-rampage-jackson-declined-jon-jones-got-ufc-128-title-fight.mma
  30. ^ "Rashad Evans hurt, Jon Jones now challenges Shogun Rua for title at UFC 128". mmajunkie.com. February 5, 2011.
  31. ^ http://www.ufc.com/MauricioRua
  32. ^ The Chute Boxe athlete had married in the last September first with the physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro in Maringá , Paraná state,
  33. ^ "Shogun becomes father of baby girl". Tatame.com. 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  34. ^ "SHOGUN: THE BRAZILIAN MMA PRESS IS MANIPULATED BY JOINHA". 2010/01/09. Retrieved 2010/01/09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  35. ^ "Figher->Premiações:". Mauricio Shogun Official Website. August 13, 2007. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
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External links

Preceded by 11th UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
May 08, 2010 - Present 		Current holder
Preceded by Pride FC Middleweight Tournament winner
August 28, 2005

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